Much as it pains me to say this, I’d imagine those two would have fared much worse in a Southern bar … depending on the city, etc.
Jersey might have a goomba image, but it’s got a more progressive attitude toward gays than even New York does. You can almost here a Jersey “tough guy” saying something like, “Yeah, he’s a fancy boy? So what. Wanna make something of it, I’ll kick yer ass.”